Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet Admiral Stephen T. Koehler today paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and highly praised Bangladesh’s contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping missions, particularly in Africa.
The two sides, during the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office at the Secretariat, discussed humanitarian assistance, disaster management, bilateral naval cooperation and ways to further strengthen Bangladesh-US relations, said PM’s Deputy Press Secretary Shahadat Shadhin.
Shadhin said the meeting discussed humanitarian assistance and Bangladesh’s capacity and contributions to disaster management.
The Premier recalled the US-led ‘Operation Sea Angels’ launched following the devastating cyclone that struck Bangladesh in 1991.
Admiral Koehler highlighted Bangladesh’s participation in various naval exercises and said the next Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise will be held in Bangladesh in November.
He also referred to Bangladesh’s participation in the ‘Sea Vision Exercise’ in Singapore and expressed hope that Bangladesh would regularly take part in the ‘Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)’ exercise and other training programmes in the future.
The meeting also reviewed the progress and mutual understanding on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between Bangladesh and the United States.
